Black Sheep
by RingosGarden
Summary: Eleven year old Sirius Black is in for a more than eventful time during his first year at Hogwarts, and being sorted into Gryffindor might just prove hazardous for his health...
1. Black Sheep

Written for A Fanfiction Convention competition at Final Prophecy

**Written for A Fanfiction Convention competition at Final Prophecy. **

**Link to site is on my profile and Author Homepage.**

**Had to contain;**_ 1. Van Gogh painting 2. anger 3. broken glass 4. yellow 5. cough 6. when I was a boy 7. short stories 8. lost sailboat 9. diamond ring 10. Why are you glowing?_

**Mucho thanks to **_**FrizzyFro12**_** who you can thank for better grammar and readability.**

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As the compartment door opens, I turn slowly seeing that a boy is now standing in the archway.

"You mind if I sit here?" he asks. "The other compartments all have people in them, and the ones that aren't full have older kids in them."

I look at the bespectacled brunette closely, taking in his Muggle attire and untamed hair. Father would never let me leave the house looking as this boy did. He always made sure that my little brother Regulus and I were properly dressed in fine robes and well groomed. His incessant nagging is the main reason why I find myself in such a miserable mood even though I'm on my way to Hogwarts. He has no clue, however, about the Muggle clothing that I have on underneath my robes.

Shrugging at the boy, he sits down across from me and holds his hand out towards me. I stare down at his hand and when I don't respond any further he retracts it with a strange look on his face.

"You alright there, mate?" he asks me in what I can only guess is concern. I nod at him slowly and he doesn't look too convinced.

"Well I'm James Potter," he says with a smile. "And you are?"

Potter…I've definitely heard that name before. "Are you Charles Potter and Isla Black's son?" I ask him instead of answering his own question to me.

"Yeah. How'd you know that?" he asks me in surprise. "You know my parents?"

Well that certainly clears things up on the boy. The Potters were once a noble bloodline which has now been thinned out by Muggle lovers and marriages to Muggles. Isla Black was long ago disowned by my family for denouncing the Dark Lord and then marrying a Potter. Apparently, she had played along with agreeing with the Black views until she graduated from Hogwarts and then ran away. Of the list of names my mother and father told me to stay away from, the Potters happens to be one of them, even though they're one of the oldest pureblood lines still around.

Potter almost certainly knows all about my family, so although he seems quite decent, I doubt he'd want anything to do with me. Especially after he finds out that I'm Orion and Walburga Black's son and in two years time, my brother Regulus will have it no better in the way people view him, I'm sure. Not that he'll have too much of a problem there, Regulus is the prized son. No matter anyhow; Potter will most certainly be in Gryffindor and I'll most certainly be in Slytherin. Almost all the Blacks have been in Slytherin, apart from a few who have been sorted into Ravenclaw, which is at the least, tolerated.

Before I can answer him, the compartment door opens once more revealing two of my older cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa Black. They both have large disgusting grins on their faces as they look at me.

"Well if it isn't ickle little Siri," Bella says with a large smirk. Her grin falters when she looks to Potter, who is glancing at her and I in curiosity. "Making Mudblood friends already, Sirius? You haven't even set foot in the castle."

"Mudblood?" Potter exclaims, quite outraged and coming to his feet. "Where do you get off calling someone that? Besides, I'm a pureblood."

Cissy looks to me as if asking confirmation what he was indeed pureblooded. There aren't that many pureblooded families left in the wizarding world, and even fewer 'respectable' families.

"He's Isla's son," I state, staring out the window, not caring all that much for this conversation. My cousins share my parent's views of pureblood mania. Their sister Meda, my favorite cousin, is much more level headed and less ignorant, not to mention, sane. Meda and I always got along well together, neither one of us believing that we're above Muggles and Mudbloods. At family parties Meda and I used to sneak off together to get away from everyone else as they bashed the views of other people before she got old enough for her parents to allow her to stay at her house alone, not that they liked the idea.

Bella and Cissy turn to each other with large grins on their faces and Potter looks at them in confusion. Apparently his mother has done well to keep him away from anything having to do with her family, which certainly couldn't have been difficult as she's no longer allowed near any of us.

"Dear cousin Potter, eh?" Bella states, looking more closely at him. "What a…_pleasure_…to meet you."

Cissy is about to respond when the door slides open once again. Thankfully, it is Meda that stands in the doorway this time, scowling at her two younger sisters. "Leave the first years alone or I'll put you both in detention before you even set foot in Hogwarts."

"We were just visiting Siri," Cissy states, trying as best she can to sound innocent.

"Get back to your own compartment, now," Meda states, holding the door open and waiting for the both of them to leave.

"Bitch," Bella mutters before storming out with Cissy close behind her.

I sigh and turn back to the window where we were quickly passing green landscape. The colors bleed together like something out of a _**Van Gogh painting**_. I like hanging up Muggle pictures on my walls whenever my parents annoy me just to piss them off and there are a few by Van Gogh still up that my mother seems to have missed.

"My name's Andromeda," Meda says, addressing Potter. "Those two didn't bother you too much did they?"

He shakes his head and looks back to me. "What did they mean by calling me cousin?"

His question brings Meda's attention back to me as well.

"Has your mother ever told you anything about her family, Potter?" I ask him.

"Not much," he says in confusion. "Why?"

"Potter?" Meda repeats. When she looks to me, I nod at her and she sighs, sitting down beside me and gesturing for Potter to do the same.

"I'm assuming that your mother is Isla, then?"

"Yeah," he says angrily. "How does everyone know that."

"Not everyone will, but the Blacks and Lestranges most certainly will," Meda responds.

"My mother's family?" He asks. "All I've heard of the Blacks is that they're all Voldemort loving pillocks."

Meda cringes at the Dark lord's name and I scowl at Potter in _**anger **_over what he just said. "Not all of us."

"You…you're…"

"Sirius Orion Black," I state, quite annoyed at how accurately Potter could sum most of my family up with only three words. "The two _charming_ witches who were in here are Narcissa and Bellatrix Black. And this," I say, gesturing towards Meda, "is Andromeda Black, sister to those two cretins."

I seem to have rendered Potter speechless and Meda places her hand on my knee as she stands. "I need to finish my prefect rounds. Do you want me to come back here when I'm done? After Cissy having been here, Malfoy will almost definitely show up."

"No," I reply. "I'm fine."

She nods and looks back to Potter. "If you need anything, come find me. I'm a prefect for Ravenclaw so it's kind of my job."

"Thanks," he says softly, not looking either her or myself in the eyes.

Meda walks out, closing the door behind her and leaving Potter and I alone in the compartment.

"Not so keen to be friendly now, eh?" I ask, staring out the window. He doesn't respond to my question and we remain in an awkward silence for the remainder of the ride.

When the train stops, Potter leaves the compartment as quickly as humanly possible. Almost as soon as I step off the train, I find myself sprawled on the ground, having been forcefully bumped into and thrown downwards.

Looking up to my left, I see Lucius Malfoy and Cissy grinning at me, walking towards a row of horseless carriages. At least it isn't _**broken glass**_ that he's thrown me into this time. Last time I happened to run into him while along in Diagon Alley, he threw my down the steps near Knockturn Alley where my hand was impaled on a broken bottle. Merlin, at this rate I'd rather be sorted into Hufflepuff than Slytherin. I might just live longer if that's the case. Being in Slytherin certainly doesn't seem as if it will be safe. Or Ravenclaw, I suppose. At least I'll have Meda to look after me then.

A hand is outstretched to me and I gratefully take it as a small boy helps pull me to my feet.

"I take it you know him?" The boy asks, looking towards where Malfoy and Cissy had just hopped into a carriage.

"Family friend," I reply with little emotion, brushing my robes off and wincing as I bend my elbow which I had landed on.

He smiles at me. "He doesn't look too friendly."

"Neither is my family," I state with a scowl.

The boy looks at me awkwardly as we follow the line of first years making their way towards boats on a side of a lake, being led there by a giant man named Hagrid with wild hair.

"Sorry," I state quickly, actually feeling badly at how I've treated this boy and Potter, after only just meeting them. "I'm not having a great day. I'm kind of the black sheep of my family and they like letting me know."

"No problem," he says with a smile. "I'm Remus by the way."

"Sirius," I reply.

Remus and I get into a boat together with two witches and we glide along the lake towards the castle in silence. When we get to a great door, we're led into a hallway, outside of where we will soon be sorted into one of four houses.

"So what house do you want to be in?"

I turn to Remus, who still has a friendly smile on his face. My family isn't known particularly as being friendly, and likewise, most of our family acquaintances aren't either. As he pushes his _**yellow**_-brown hair out from in front of his eyes, I find myself returning his smile.

"Hufflepuff."

He gapes at me. "You _want_ to be in Hufflepuff? I thought that that's where they put you when you don't fit into another house."

I shrug at him. "I'm not sure that anywhere else will be all too safe for me to be sorted in to," I reply.

The doors fly open and we're ushered into Hogwarts' Great Hall where the rest of the students were sitting at four long tables. The Professors were at another table facing the four with students. Large house banners are spread across a ceiling that is enchanted to look like the sky outside. It is currently clear and scattered with bright stars, the brightest of them all, being Sirius. Remus follows my eyes and sends a smile in my direction. If he caught what I'm thinking the kid must be pretty intelligent.

A tall, serious looking witch named McGonagall has us line up in front of the professor's table where a hat is sitting on a stool in front of where we're lined up waiting. I look at the hat in curiosity as it begins to sing.

When the hat quiets, McGonagall calls up Abbot, Muriel. A short blonde girl walks forward and soon after the hat is placed on her head, the hat calls, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Black, Sirius."

I breathe in deeply, trying to calm myself as I walk forward, ignoring the looks that Bella and Cissy were sending me from the Slytherin table.

I nearly jump off the stool when the hat begins to talk to me. "_Another Black, eh?" _This is really creepy. _"Interesting…very interesting. You're unlike most of your family. Hmmm, not in personality though. You would probably fit in well in Slytherin with the rest of them, but your beliefs…Maybe you're different enough for _GRYFFINDOR!"

"Shit," I state, not moving from the stool or removing the hat from my head. Slytherin was where I'm supposed to be. Almost all of my family has been in Slytherin from Hogwarts founding and I've been told so since nearly birth. Ravenclaw was acceptable. Hufflepuff would probably have me disowned, but it would be better than Gryffindor. As far as I can remember, there's never, ever, been a Black in Gryffindor. Being in Gryffindor will surely lead to my death.

I hear a _**cough **_from McGonagall behind me and I still refuse to move, petrified to see the faces of my cousins. Along with Bella and Cissy, my cousins Rastaban and Rodolphus Lestrange are sitting at the Slytherin table as well, and if anything, they're worse.

"Mr. Black, please join the Gryffindor table."

Slowly, I remove the hat and notice that the Headmaster, Dumbledore, is looking at me closely. Avoiding looking at the Slytherin table, I walk over to the Gryffindors, sitting at the very end of the table where the next person was at least seven seats away.

Placing my hands on the table and clasping them together, I don't look up from them until someone sits across from me.

"This is certainly not Hufflepuff," Remus states. "You don't seem too happy at being sorted here."

"I'll be lucky to survive a week being a Gryffindor," I reply as James Potter is sorted into Gryffindor after a short squat boy is as well. "Bloody predictable," I mutter.

When all the first years are sorted, Dumbledore waves his wand and food appears in large qualities before us.

Sighing, I push my plate away from me, just as a ghost appears out of no where.

"What's this?" He asks me. "Are you not eating? Why _**when I was a boy**_ children knew not to waste food. The way you lot allow food to spoil is beyond me…"

I look to Remus as the ghost continues on and he's staring at the ghost in surprise. From his look, I'm guessing that he's never seen a ghost before. As the ghost leaves, it appears that I missed the rest of what he was saying.

"That's Nearly Headless Nick," an older boy states, leaning over from my left. "Unless you have about an hour, you'd do well to not get him started on something. His are never _**short stories**_."

"I'll keep that in mind," I reply.

"I'm Frank Longbottom," he states, holding his hand out to Remus.

"Remus Lupin," Remus says, shaking himself out of his surprise at Nearly Headless Nick.

"Sirius Black," I state as he shakes my hand.

His eyes widen at me. "Oh right, I nearly forgot that you were a Black. I think that makes us cousins somehow. Not many of you Blacks have been in Gryffindor."

"None that I'm aware of," I reply, picking my fork up and stabbing at a potato.

"Right then," he replies and turns back to the boy on his left.

From across the table, Remus is studying me. "Your name is well known?"

"As evil gits," I reply, biting my bottom lip. "My family's been in Slytherin since the castle's founding. Being in Gryffindor is pretty much the biggest disgrace to the Black name that I could manage."

"You in trouble for it?"

I look over to the Slytherin table for the first time since being sorted and notice Lucius Malfoy leaning over to talk to Rodolphus Lestrange; both of them smiling and looking in my direction.

"That would be a giant understatement," I reply.

Dumbledore soon dismisses us and the Gryffindor prefect calls for the first years to follow him. Remus and I stand from the table and make it through the crowd, doing as best as we can to follow the prefect.

Following him through the many staircases and hallways, I do my best to take in my surroundings, looking closely at the many moving portraits; A smiling brother and sister playing a game of chess, a sorrowful witch on a jetty looking out for a _**lost sailboat**_, and portrait upon portrait of old witches and wizards.

"The password is Flobberworm," the prefect states near the portrait hole. When he moves out of the way I get a glimpse of the portrait in front of the Gryffindor tower. My eye widen at the large lady on the canvas. Her bright purple robes are almost as gaudy as her large _**diamond ring**_ and strands upon strands of pearls. Her hair is about the highest that I have ever seen, and with the portraits at my house, that is really saying something.

Remus and I are at the end of the line but before I can follow everyone else in, a voice calls out from behind me.

"Black!"

I turn around quickly, holding my wand out in front of me.

"Sirius?" Remus asks in a low voice, making sure that I am alright. It's a gesture that I will have to thank him for at a later time.

"It's alright," I state, looking at Rodolphus and Rastaban. "Go inside."

He hesitates, but does as I told him, leaving me alone in the hall with the Lestrange brothers.

"Can I help you?" I ask them, not lowering my wand. I may only know a basic shield charm and a few choice curses, but it's a small form of comfort.

"We're just here to talk, dear cousin," Rodolphus states, twirling his wand in his fingers.

"Yeah," Rastaban adds. "Just a simple conversation."

"Well you two can take your 'simple conversation' and stick it up your ass," I reply, turning around and walking back towards the portrait hole.

I can't believe I am so stupid.

Almost instantly, Rodolphus and Rastaban both aim curses at my turned back and I find myself blown against the wall, the back of my head hitting the stone, where the portrait is hung. They both laugh as they walk away, leaving me by myself in the hall.

When I can no longer hear their footsteps, I push myself up, punching the wall as hard as I can, biting my lip in pain.

"Flobberworm," I mutter as the fat lady looks at me in scorn.

As I walk into the common room, all heads torn to me. Ignoring them, I walk up the staircase to the right which was labeled for boys, and find my way up three flights of stairs to the door labeled for first years.

I open the door, and the voices inside immediately stop, the three occupants all looking towards where I stand.

"_**Why are you glowing?"**_ Potter asks me in confusion, breaking the silence. Holding my hands out in front of me, I swear. Potter wasn't joking; my skin is emitting a bright green glow. If this happened to anyone but myself, I might find it funny. I'm actually quite surprised that neither Remus, Potter, or the other boy, Pettigrew I think, aren't laughing.

"A couple of my cousins, ones you haven't met, are to blame for this," I state, making my way to the bed furthest to the right where my trunk is placed.

"You're bleeding," Remus states as I take my robes off, throwing them into my trunk.

"Doesn't matter," I reply, bringing my hand up to my head and back down, where sure enough there's blood.

"You're wearing Muggle clothes," Potter states, surprised, taking in my appearance sans robes of blue jeans and a Led Zeppelin tee-shirt.

"So are you," I state, aggravated, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

Potter nods at me. "Yeah," he states. "But I'm not a Black."

"In case you didn't realize by the fact that I'm in Gryffindor," I say, rubbing my eyes. "I'm not quite like the rest of my family."

There's a knock at the door and it opens slowly to reveal the prefect that had led us to the common room.

"Black," he states, looking at me in curiosity as I've yet to subside from glowing. "The Headmaster would like to see you in his office," he says slowly.

"Now?"

"Yeah," he responds. "A prefect is waiting for you outside the portrait hole to show you the way there. She says she knows you."

"Right," I say, nodding as he leaves. "Bloody. Wonderful."

"What's he want with you?" Potter asks.

"Oh, I'm sure it's just a casual visit. You know…tea, scones, jam." I dig around in my trunk, finding clean robes and throwing them on over my head. "Don't feel inclined to wait up for me, honey," I tell Potter with a wink, making my way downstairs.

"Problem?" I ask, as I walk through the common room, gaining the attention of every person inside.

I slam the portrait back shut against the wall with a scowl, making Meda jump from where she had been leaning against the opposite wall.

"Oh, Siri," she says with a slight smile.

"Go ahead," I state bitterly. "Let your laughter out."

She shakes her head at me. "Far too easy," she replies. "Who did it?"

"Lestrange."

"Which one?"

"Both," I tell her and she shakes her head.

"Bloody cowards," she states, gesturing me down the hallway. "Two against one and Rodolphus is a sixth year."

"As it's never stopped him before, I doubt that he'll start now."

"Hey," she says, putting her arm around my shoulders. "The difference between being here and at home is that here that type of stuff isn't allowed. They can get in serious trouble for what they do and you'll see, as long as you're in front of people they won't risk it. Don't go near them if you're alone until you can actually protect yourself."

I nod at her and we stop in front of a large statue of a griffin. "Lemon Drops," she states, and the statue moves aside, revealing a staircase. "I'll be waiting for you down here."

"Thank you Meda," I state. "For everything."

She nods at me and I slowly make my way up the spiral stone staircase, knocking at the door at the top.

"Come in."

I open the door and my eyes widen at the office beyond the door. I close the door behind me and look around, not seeing Dumbledore anywhere in the large room. There is a vast array of different magical objects scattered not only on his desk, but around the entire room.

"Sirius, my dear boy, what brings you here?"

Looking around the room, completely confused, I have no clue where the oddly familiar voice came from.

"Up here, on the wall."

I smile as I find the portrait of my great-great-great grandfather looking at me from behind Dumbledore's desk. I walk around the desk to meet him eye to eye. "How are you Papa Phineas?"

"As well as a portrait can be, Siri. We haven't talked in quite a while."

"Yeah, well…Mother has you in the family room and I'm not typically allowed in there as of recently."

He shakes his two-dimensional head at me. "I'm not saying that I agree with Mudbloods being killed, but you'd do well to keep your opinions quiet. The actions that you make have more ramifications that just you. You must think of the legacy."

"Well I'm sick of the legacy!" I exclaim. "Having to pretend to be someone that I'm not. Getting bloody cursed for being sorted into Gryffindor. It's all bollocks."

"Gryffindor?"

"That's right, Phineas," Dumbledore's voice sounds from the left as he walks down a staircase. I make my way from behind Dumbledore's desk to the seat in front of it. "Sirius here is the first Black to ever be sorted into Gryffindor."

He sits down behind his desk and gestures for me to sit down as well. I do so and sigh deeply, looking up at the dome ceiling of the room. "Why my boy," he states., "it looks as if you're glowing."

"Astute observation, Sir."

"Ah," he says with a smile. "I see that you being in Gryffindor has nothing to do with not having the typical Black demeanor."

"It's been a long day, Sir. I'm sorry."

"Completely understandable," he replies. "I believe that your head is bleeding," he adds, waving his wand and the pain in my head vanishes.

"Funny how being thrown up against a wall will do that," I respond. "Is there a reason that you asked me to come here?"

With a slight frown on his face he nods at me. "I want to make sure that something like what has obviously already happened to you does not continue to happen. I am well aware of what danger you are currently in because of where you have been sorted as you seem to have several family members and acquaintances who wish to do you harm."

"And how do you suggest that?"

"Make friends, Sirius," he states. "Let your house mates see that you are not who your name suggests and gain their trust. With friends by your side it will be much harder for an ambush and you might even enjoy being here, including the house that you have been sorted into. I have talked to Professor McGonagall who is your head of house about where your sorting has left you and she is quite concerned for your safety as well. If any occurrences should happen I suggest talking to her."

"That really isn't necessary," I reply. "But thank you for your concern. I've been dealing with this on my own for a few years now and I assure you that it isn't anything that I'm not used to handling."

Dumbledore sighs and waves his wand at me, making my skin instantly stop glowing. "I thought you might be just as stubborn as your family members," he states., "but it is good to know that you at least have some doubts on where your loyalties should lie."

I don't respond and he folds his hands in his desk before him. "I am going to guess that your next month or so here will be quite difficult for you but I can only promise that things will indeed get better and work their way out. I will ask you to please reconsider asking for help when needed."

"I'll reconsider," I reply. "But I doubt I will change my mind. If I ask for help it will be a sign of weakness and will only make things worse for me. Believe me, Sir, I know from experience."

He nods at me. "Then I believe that is all I have to discuss at this moment with you. Please watch out for yourself, Sirius."

"I will, Sir."

I find Meda waiting for me against the wall at the bottom of the staircase. "You really didn't have to wait for me. I can find my way back by myself," I say as we head back to the Gryffindor common room.

"It's the least I can do for you cuz," she replies. "And besides, who says I'm not doing this just to spend some time with you. I haven't seen much of you these past couple of years."

"And I don't blame you for that in the slightest," I reply. "At least being here means that I'm not at home."

When we make it to the portrait of the fat lady she pulls me into a tight hug. "Please Siri, if you ever need anything, come find me."

"I will," I reply. "I promise, Meda."

She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and I look to her in confusion. She smiles at me and makes her way down the hall. I smile and turn towards the fat lady. "Flobberworm."

The common room is dark and empty, the only light coming from the flickering fireplace. I walk over to the couch and throw myself down on it, roughly rubbing my eyes.

"How'd it go?"

I jump, not knowing that anyone else was in the room. Potter stands from a chair off in the corner and sits beside me on the couch, gazing into the fire.

"We're you waiting up for me?"

"I was," he responds, still looking into the flickering flames.

"Man, I was only joking earlier," I state, confused. "That's not why you are still up, is it?"

He shakes his head, turning to me. "I wanted to apologize," he starts, "I know that we've gotten off on the wrong foot and I just want to say that I'm sorry for judging you based on your family."

"We've known each other about, what, five hours? And you've known about my family probably your entire life?" I ask him. "Don't worry about it."

"I notice you're not glowing anymore."

"What gave you that idea?" I ask him with a smile. "The fact that I'm not longer a human night light?"

He laughs and shakes his head at me. "So what happened anyway?"

"Two of my cousins, Rodolphus and Rastaban Lestrange, cursed me as I was walking back into the common room."

"With your back turned?" He asks me, astounded.

I nod at him. "That's about the Dark Lord supporter way," I reply. "Fighting low and dirty."

We sit in silence for a bit before Potter starts laughing to him self, shaking his head.

"You okay there?" I ask him, curious as to what he finds so funny.

"I was just thinking," he states. "What would you say about getting them back?"

Grinning, I nod my head at him. "I think I'd say that that sounds like a bloody terrific idea. Any ideas how to get them back?"

"Not yet," he replies. "But it doesn't really matter when we do it, now does it? We're here all year so I'm sure we can come up with something before then. Maybe we can get Remus and Peter in on it as well."

"Peter?" I ask in confusion, not having a clue as to who he is talking about.

"Right," Potter says. "You haven't really met him, have you? He's our other bunk mate. A bit quiet and slow, but he seems all right. Remus seems more down to earth. Rather shy, but I think we might be able to break him of that with a small amount of effort. You know, if you'd be interested."

"I think I could get in on that," I reply, standing up. "You think he's still awake, James?"

"Why I don't know, Sirius," he says, standing as well. "But what do you say we go find out?"

"Race you there!" I reply, shocking him by running up the stairs. Dumbledore is right. If I'm going to spend seven years here, I might as well enjoy them.

James catches me as I swing the door open. We pause for a slight moment to look at each other, large grins on both of our faces, before we both dive on top of Remus' sleeping form.

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**This was going to be a oneshot,**

**But I think I might write more on it.**

**Tell me what you think. **


	2. Detention

1

**This story is for a convention on Final Prophecy (****host234./hpfinalp/forum/index.php?sid284fe273c7794fa694f2cf6fbf442db7****) **

**Which is a monthly assignment to include 10 words or phrases which are all bolded.**

**So updates of this will be incredibly slow.**

**And this one's actually been Beta'd.**

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"Black!"

"Shit," I mutter, jumping from my seat across from James and Remus at the Gryffindor table. McGonagall sure as Hell didn't sound too happy with me and after what James, Remus and I had collaborated together with to get back at Rudolphus and Rastaban, I don't particularly blame her. As fun as it might have been, it was quite obvious that I was the one behind it after what they had pulled on me. It was really only a matter of time and I'm assuming that she and Dumbledore are actually surprised at how long it actually did take for me to retaliate.

"Busted," James mutters as Remus looks down at his **pudding**, extremely worried. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's not the type who typically gets into trouble. With his shy and easy going personality, I have a large doubt that he has even one ever have been in trouble before.

When I hear McGonagall clear her throat behind me I stand from my seat. "Yes Ma'am, can I help you?"

"My office. Now."

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but I must decline. I think I'm just a small bit too young for you," I reply with a smirk, earning me a few laughs from the Hall which had grown incredibly quiet. Attention, oh how I love it.

She reaches forward, quick as a cat to grab hold of my ear.

"Ow!" I exclaim as she begins to drag me out of the hall.

"**Don't get shirty with me, young man,"** she states sternly. "You'll soon learn not to try to make a fool of me or you'll be licking the dungeon floors clean."

"Can you let go of me?!"

"No," she replies, continuing to drag me to her office and pushing me into the chair in front of her desk when she gets there. Her office is rather small yet somehow not cluttered. It's very- McGonagallish. Prim and proper. From the way that she acts I have a doubt that she's ever let her hair down and had a good time. What I wouldn't give to be able to see what she was like at my age.

I watch as she sits back behind her desk carefully, trying to judge how upset she actually is at me.

"Ginger snap," she states, handing a plate of cookies out to me.

Raising an eyebrow at her, I tentatively take one and she sighs, pushing her glasses down on the bridge of her nose. "While I don't particularly fault you for retaliating on the Lestrange brothers, sticking them to the ceiling of the entrance hall was not a wise idea. At your skill level, I haven't a clue how you did it, nor can I prove without a doubt that it was you and you alone, however, you will be punished so you know you cannot get away with such actions."

I nod at her and she continues. "You will receive a week's worth of detention beginning at seven tomorrow night to be served with Professor Slughorn."

At my groan she gives a slight smile. "Back to the common room, Black. And I don't want to see you here again."

I stand and pull the door open, turning to her. "You'll change your mind," I state with a wink before scurrying to the common room where I find James, Peter and Remus sitting at a table off in the corner.

"What'd she say?" James asks me in a hurry as I sit.

"She gave me a week of detention with Slughorn," I reply with a scowl, pushing Remus' Charms book away from me.

"**Crikey!"** James replies. "A full week?"

"Yup," I reply and Remus looks at me in what I take as worry.

Remus has got to be the shyest person I have ever met. He's so timid around us and James and I have been trying with only the greatest effort to break him out of his shell. He reminds me a lot of my younger brother, Regulus, actually. He seems to crave approval. Only drawing attention to himself in classes. He's so unlike James and I who enjoy being the center of attention. Which I guess is good. Two like me and James is enough as it is, Remus helps keep us in check and grounded. Without him, I'm sure I would have already had a detention before today.

Peter? Well. I'm not too sure how I feel about him just quite yet. He's another who craves approval, but he attempts it by being over enthusiastic and by mimicking the actions of others. From the way he acts, I don't think he's ever had many friends, which is why I'm keen on giving him a chance to be his own person. He doesn't really seem all that bad but I don't really know him all that well yet. I'm planning on still giving him a chance.

Remus though, I like him. And I think with just a bit more effort James and I will have him broken. Hopefully not too much though. I really do think that James and I could do with someone mild mannered around to keep us in check when needed. I plan on having some fun while here, but nothing to a 'let's get expelled' type way. Being expelled and forced to be home schooled would probably be the worse thing to ever happen in my life. I could not possible deal with having been forced to stay home any longer. I might just explode.

"Don't worry about me, Remus my dear boy," I say with a grin. "Detention is far less a punishment than whatever I'd get at home."

James frowns at my statement but Remus doesn't notice. "What do you mean?"

Within only a month of school here, I've been able to make most people forget my last name. Not literally, of course, but what it usually represents. Remus, surprisingly, had no idea what it meant to be a Black before meeting me and having me explain it to him. This is surprising to me because he's not Muggleborn. I can only deduce that he's lived under a rock for the past 11 years and considering how he has to care for his mom as she's sickly, it might be an accurate thought.

"My parents," I say slowly and evenly, "are evil."

He still looks confused, and not wanting to really talk about it, I stand from the table and look around the common room. Finding her in front of the fire, I yell. "Oi, Evans!"

The small red-head looks at me with a scowl from where she was doing homework with the blonde Steven twins, Savannah and Carly. It's amazing how much she already dislikes me with only a month of contact. And I think she's turned those two against me as well. Such a pity, they seem rather nice.

"What do you want, Black?"

James, Remus and Peter are all looking at me in curiosity as she's not too keen on any of us, except maybe Remus. They're both the hardest working in our class in Gryffindor and certainly make the rest of us look bad. Not that I care. I find classes easy so where's the need to study and over exert myself? Bollocks if you ask me.

"You still have that ancestry book? The one you were bothering me with about my family the other day?"

She gives me a calculating look before reaching into her bag and holding a dingy book towards me. I'm surprised that she is actually willing to give it to me after my outburst, telling her that if she told me one more fact on my ancestry from that moth eaten book that I would shove it- well, that I would shove it somewhere where she wouldn't want a book, or anything else I presume, shoved. I walk over to her and give her a wink before bringing the book back to the table and placing it in front of Remus.

Evans, the little know it all, when she found out about how evil my family is by some well aimed hexes in my direction by Bella and Cissy, felt the need to look up purebloods in the library, starting with my family. She actually thought I'd be interested. What a loon. The less I know about my family the better. I know enough about my immediate family to know that I don't want to know about them.

"Everything you want to now," I say through gritted teeth at Remus, "is in there," I finish, standing from the table and heading upstairs where I throw myself down on my bed, closing the curtains tight and grasping my hair in my hands.

To say my family is evil, is an understatement. My mother thought that at three I should be taught, as a proper pureblood, to play the piano. This wouldn't have been so bad that if whenever I played a wrong note she hadn't preformed the Cruciatus Curse on me whenever I did so.

Upside is, I'm a pretty decent piano player.

It doesn't take long before I hear the door creak open and softly close. Way too quiet to be either James or Peter.

"Sirius?" I hear Remus call to me.

I sigh. "Yeah?" I ask.

He pulls the curtain back on my bed and nimbly sits on the edge. "I-…I didn't know about your family," he says slowly. "You're so normal, I figured that the others were…"

"Mad?" I ask him, sitting up. "Well they are. Every one of them."

"You're parents that bad?" he asks, looking down at his hands. I can tell that he really does want to know, and has, but hasn't before now had the courage to actually ask me about it. He's a nice guy and has a great sense in reading people and their feelings.

"Yeah," I reply shortly and Remus looks back up at me as I hug my knees to my chest. "My mother likes to punish," I say, closing my eyes tight. "Last Christmas, my uncle had bought me a pair of **silver skates**. My mother flipped on me after receiving a Muggle gift even though I had nothing to do with it. Threw them at me. One of the blades hit the back of my head." I lift my hair up so Remus could see the scar. "She made it heal naturally saying that the scar would remind me. It was really that moment that I realized how insane my family is."

"I'm sorry."

I give a small laugh before rubbing my eyes, which I hadn't even realized had begun to water. "It's not your fault that my family's fucked up."

To my surprise, Remus pulls me into his arms. I nearly jump back in surprise, not ever really been subject to human contact past the age of two, but I don't. Something about his touch is just so- comforting that I relax and let him hug me.

Until a loud bang on the door makes us both jump in surprise.

"Guys," Peter whines. "I need to use the bathroom!"

Apparently Remus had locked the door when he had come in.

"Yeah, come on," James calls out. **"What are you guys doing? The hanky-panky?"**

Remus rolls his eyes and stands to let them in. I take the time to swing my legs over the side of my bed and rub my eyes once more, attempting to dry them completely.

The door opens and from the sound of running footsteps, Peter runs directly into the bathroom. When I look up, James is staring at me. He looks back to Remus when our eyes meet and then back at me. "What's up?"

"Nothing," I reply and head to the bathroom to wash my face with cold water, walking by Peter on my way in. James joins me in a few minutes. I notice him first through the mirror when I bring my face back up from the sink. He's leaning against the doorframe legs and arms both crossed.

"Can I help you?" I ask, walking towards him to where face towels hang on the wall, taking one off to dry my face and throwing it in the hamper.

He shrugs. "I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"Thanks honey," I reply sarcastically, "but I can do without all the sympathy."

I push past him and make towards my bed.

"Stop."

I turn to him quickly to notice that he's actually upset at me. "What?"

"Stop doing this."

"What are you talking about?" I ask him, looking to Remus and Peter as well for some clarification in my confusion.

"Every single time you open up to any of us at all, you retract it like there's something to be ashamed of! We're going to be living with each other for seven years here. Stop it."

Who the hell is he to tell me off like that?

"Goodnight, Potter," I say with a glare, closing my bed curtains shut around me.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

"C'mon, Sirius."

I groan as Remus shakes me awake. "You're going to miss breakfast if you don't get up," he tells me.

"So?" I reply, turning in the opposite direction.

"Don't make me use water," he says, and I can almost hear his smile.

Sighing, I get myself out of bed and look around. "Where's James and Peter?"

Remus bites his bottom lip. "They decided to go early."

"Right," I reply shortly. "Of course," I say as I quickly take my clothes off and throw, what I assume to be clean clothing, on.

"Just talk to him."

"No," I reply, finding my tie, not bothering to tighten it at all as I put it around my neck. "I can't help who I am," I say in anger, shoving my books and parchment into my bag. "And if he can't deal with that, then I can't deal with him."

"Sirius."

"What Remus?" I reply, standing straight to look at him. "Every time I meet someone I am nearly immediately ostracized. I thought he was different but apparently he's not. Each person I meet either loves me because of my name or hates me for it. Either way, I'm judged. Best part is, my own family ostracizes me because I'm not like them. And then coming here, where I actually have a chance to be myself…"

"Talk to him," Remus repeats, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I think you both have as much right to be upset at each other."

I glare at him and he puts his hand up to silence me. A gesture that I'm all too familiar with.

"You're upset with him because he's not letting you be who you are, and he's upset at you because you're not opening up. You're both upset because you both want to be friends with each other and neither one of you is giving each other any leeway."

He's right. And he knows that he's right. Having nothing left to say to him, I sling my bag over my shoulder and gesture him out of our bedroom, out the common room and towards the Great Hall. Remus gestures me to the seats across from James and Peter and I follow him silently, looking into my plate as soon as I sit.

Breathing in deeply, I look around the Hall. I was hoping for things to be different when I got here. Granted, I was assuming that I'd be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, but I was hoping at a new start. To get away from my name. But that's all anyone ever sees me as. Sirius Orion Black. Never just Sirius. These are supposed to be the best years of my life.

I take a glance to the house points. Ravenclaw's already in the lead. Bloody overachievers. **A goblet of sand** representing so much work and effort.

"You okay?"

I turn to Remus who shakes his head and gestures at James.

"I don't know, really," I reply to him honestly as students start standing, signaling that our first class, Transfiguration, would be starting soon. I grab an apple from the table before standing with Remus who gives me a determined look, making me roll my eyes at him and drop back so I can walk beside James. Nudging Peter forward so he's walking beside Remus, I turn to James.

"I'm sorry about last night," I blurt out, catching him off guard and making him turn to me quickly. I've never been one for subtlety and circumstances like this show it even more. "It's just- I was raised a Black. You know what that means. I'm an ass."

James gives a small laugh and I smile at him. "I don't know how to open up to people. My family doesn't open up. My brother and I are punished for showing emotion. Even when my mom is pissed at us, she never raised her voice. Just a well aimed wand. I've been taught to act like this for eleven years. It's not something I can just change in a month."

He nods at me. "I know. And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't push you- just, you talked to Remus and not me. I guess I was just peeved that you couldn't talk to me but you could talk to him. I mean, you, me, Remus and even Peter have gotten relatively close, but I suppose I consider you my best friend. It just hurts a bit you're more open with him than me."

I suppose he has me there. "I don't know," I reply as we walk into the classroom. "He's just easy to talk to. I've never met anyone I can open up to that wasn't Meda."

"Don't worry about it," James replies, sitting at our typical desk at the back.

A ring sounds from the **bell tower **as I bite into my apple.

"Mr. Black, there is no eating in my classroom," McGonagall states as she walks inside. I jump as she summons it out of my hand and into the trash barrel at the front, earning several laughs from my classmates. "Now wands out."

Class went by rather quickly, which was rather unfortunate, as we had History of Magic afterwards. Anyone who thought that having a class taught by a ghost would be fun, was sorely mistaken, and James and I pass drawings through the entirety of it as Remus sits like a good little boy taking notes on **Four Horsemen** and various **Anti-Magic Movements. **Only he, Evans and the Stevens girls are able to either pay attention or not fall asleep during class. James and I alternate classes on doing both. Peter tends to just sleep.

Only having two classes on Mondays, we have plenty of free time to just fool around and after dinner Remus immediately starts doing his Transfiguration homework, an assignment that I never wrote down and don't have any intention of doing.

"Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeemusssssssss," I whine from across the table. "Play chess with me. I'm bored."

"Why? You always lose."

I glare at him. "Well I can't play against James or Peter because I always beat them."

"Well then, you know how I feel when I play against you."

"Reeeeeeeeeeemussssssssssssss."

"Fine," he replies, closing his book. "One game."

I smile at him before pushing my chair away from the table and running upstairs to our dorm. Remus is the only person that I have ever played chess with who I have not been able to win off of. My father started playing with me when I was three and I guess I just really took to it. I started playing with Reg as soon as he was old enough to play, but he's only ever won a few games against me. Playing with Remus is possibly the most frustrating and infuriating thing that I have ever done. And I won't stop playing against him until I can win. And I will win.

I don't take losing well.

Reaching under my bed, I toss the dirty clothes and school supplies aside and grab my chess set and board and then get Remus' from his desk draw. Neat freak. Me, James and Peter have our items thrown everywhere. Not a pen is out of place in Remus' space.

When I get back down to the common room, Remus is at a different table facing the fire, his hands crossed on his lap.

I smirk at him. "You're going down."

"Twenty-five nil," he says, returning my smirk. "Soon to be twenty-six."

"Who's keeping track?" I ask, arranging my pieces on the board.

He smiles at me. "Me," he states before moving his first piece.

"Hmph," I reply with a pout, making Remus roll his eyes at me as I move a piece of my own.

"So," he says. "I see you and James made up. Lover's spat over?"

I look at him closely as he raises an eyebrow at me, his face still stoic. He really is an anomaly; Remus. In a group larger than one on one he's timid and shy, but get him in a one on one circumstance and he's sarcastic, hilarious, talkative and downright remarkable. I can only shake my head at him.

"Lovers spat?" I ask him rhetorically as he moves another pawn, me watching closely. "Why my dear Remy, there is no one in my eyes sight but you."

"And I, you, Siri," he replies, not even the slightest tinge of embarrassment on his face.

I do not think that I will ever grow to understand this kid.

He's got me beat in fifteen minutes. "Bollocks," I mutter. "How the bloody hell did you get so good?"

He shrugs at me. "Lots of free time."

"Play another."

"Can't."

"Sure you can."

"No I can't, because you can't."

"What do you mean I can't?"

Once more, he rolls his eyes at me and tilts his head up to the clock. "You've got detention in fifteen minutes and it takes ten minutes to walk down to the dungeons, knowing you a bit longer."

"You're just afraid of losing," I say in fake annoyance, making him laugh at me, earning some looks from the rest of the common room who only knows Remus as the quiet first year and me as the typical loud mouth.

"James honey," I say loudly, making some people laugh. "I'll miss you, but don't worry. I'll always hold you above Slughorn. No man and his cauldron can come between the love we hold for each other."

"Cute, Sirius," he replies as I walk out of the common room.

The halls are relatively quiet as it's nearing curfew and at the bottom of the stairs I meet Meda with a smile. "Hello there," I say, giving a slight bow. "Fancy meeting you here in a place like this."

"You're a real card, Siri."

I shrug at her. "Escort me to Slug?"

"So that's where you have your detention? Deep down in the bowls of the school where only Slytherin is fit to inhabit?"

"Don't remind me," I reply. "I have a feeling I'm due for a retaliation."

"Probably," she says with a frown. "You've made yourself a decent amount of enemies in such a short period of time here, Siri. I'd seriously consider watching your back carefully. Bella and Cissy are dangerous enough and after that stunt you did on Rudy and Rast they're going to do more to you than have you sport Slytherin pride. They've probably got Malfoy tagging you as well."

"I know," I reply as we make it to Slughorn's door. "Well, this is where I leave you."

"Good luck, kid," she says with a smirk as I walk inside of the class room.

The potions classroom is dark, cool and dreary. Dozens of bubbling cauldrons line the walls and behind them sit books upon books. Each one older than the next one.

"Black?"

I turn to the storage closet where Slughorn's voice had emitted from. "Yes sir, it's me."

In a few loud footstep Slughorn's form emerges from the room, a large grin on his face. "Excellent," he states excitedly. "I've been needing my closet cleaned out for a while now and it seems I have you for the week!"

I smile falsely back at him as he continues. This man bugs me a bit. He's always happy or pretending to be happy. And he has this handpicked group of his called 'Slug's club,' where he hand picks favorite students that he feels will succeed after Hogwarts. I tend to ignore much of what he says in class. "Just make it neat and you can leave at ten and continue tomorrow. I'll trust you'll need most of the week to get it done, no need to over exert yourself now."

"Yes sir," I reply and walk inside the closet. Well- as far inside as I can actually walk, which isn't very far. Ingriedients are thrown everywhere, covering nearly every inch of shelf and floor alike. Caterpillars, Flobberworms and Cockroaches are scattered everywhere as if the jars they were once contained in had exploded.

Sighing, I pick an empty jar off the shelf and squat down on the floor, beginning to separate the dried creatures on the closet floor, beginning with the cockroaches. As I make to stand, I step backwards on something squishy and lose my balance, knocking into the shelf and spilling a vile of something green and slimy on top of me.

"Ewwww," I say slowly, bringing my hand to my hair and pulling it away slowly, leaving a string of green slime from my head to my hand until I wipe it away on my pants. Glaring, I pick the vile up from the floor, reading its label. "Well," I say to myself. "I certainly hope that Bundimun Secretion isn't hazardous." My hair happens to be one of my best features. It's the only thing that mother ever let me have a say on so I've let it grow out a bit longer than most people tend to allow. To my surprise, my mother has actually allowed me to keep it this way. So it's not exactly rebellious, but it's the closest that I've come to being rebellious so far.

I cringe as I get a whiff of what I now smell like. "Lovely," I mutter as I wipe up the mess I had added with an old cloth I find in the corner of a shelf and then continue bottling the scattered insects, moving onto alphabetizing the full labeled bottles that cover the rest of the shelves and floor.

Ten o'clock did not come soon enough, but as soon as the bell rings I scamper out of the classroom, wanting to get out of Slytherin territory as soon as humanly possible. To my incredible surprise, I meet no one in the halls the entire way to the Gryffindor common room. "Bezoar," I mutter, and the portrait swings open.

All heads in the common room turn to me as I storm by them and up stairs to my room, ignoring the **wrinkled noses** of James, Peter and Remus due to my smell. James raises an eyebrow at me as I begin throwing items out of my trunk, looking for some clean clothes to change into after I take a most desperately needed shower.

"What?" I exclaim in annoyance.

"Oh," James says slowly and as innocently as he can muster. Which isn't very innocent. He's more of a clown than I like to be. "Nothing."

"That's right, bloody nothing," I mutter, grabbing my clothes and slamming my trunk shut, heading for the bathroom.

After a hot shower I feel, and smell, a hell of a lot better and James smiles at me as I begin toweling my hair dry.

"Better?"

"Until tomorrow night," I reply. "When I get to clean that pillock's closet again."

Remus frowns. "You shouldn't have to be doing that alone," he says slowly. "We all helped in sticking the Lestranges to the ceiling. I researched the spell and Peter lured them in the hall early and you and James both did the spell."

"He is right," James says, Peter nodding beside him on his bed. "We all did our part."

"No," I reply, shaking my head. "This is my battle with my family and you guys shouldn't have even been involved in the first place. By simply becoming my friends you are all now targets for them and they will make sure to pay us all back, no one excluded. They keep tabs on me," I tell them. "When I have classes, where I go when I'm out of my classes and most importantly, who I spend my time with."

"I'm okay with that."

I look at James in surprise. "What do you mean you are okay with that?"

He shrugs at me. "I like you. Most of the time. And I had the choice whether or not to help you out and I decided to do so. Therefore, it's really not your fault that your pain in the ass relatives will feel the need to get back at me. We'll just have to one up them."

I roll my eyes at him. "You should stay out of this."

"Too late," Remus states, pulling the curtains back on his bed and sitting on its edge. "We're already a part of this, like it or not, and we have been the moment we became friends with your outcast ass. Deal with it."

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Nope," James says. "Although, I don't think that you quite know what you're getting yourself into. I don't plan on backing away from you any time soon."

I sigh and pull the curtains back on my old bed, Peter choosing this moment to stand from James bed. "Me neither Sirius," he says slowly. "You guys are already the best friends that I've ever had."

"Thanks," I say softly, looking at the bed to my right where Remus is sitting looking at his hands.

"Night guys," Peter says, closing his curtains and James follows behind him. I however, look at Remus still, who seems a bit off.

"You okay?"

He nods at me and then pauses before shrugging. "What Peter said," he replies quietly. "Me too. You guys are the best friends I've ever had."

I look at him until he looks back up at me and I send him a smile. "Me too."

When he smiles overenthusiastically back at me, I roll my eyes. "Good night Remus."

"'Night Sirius."


End file.
